In 1966, Evelyn Davis founded Tiny Tots Child Care Center. Her goal was to provide a much-needed service that in turn would aid and assist mothers in their quest for employment and a better life. Another goal was to make Tiny Tots self-sufficient so that donors to the center could watch a human service develop into its own entity.

Davis’ dream was only partially realized. Tiny Tots did provide child care for many parents but never became self-sufficient. It’s a common story: Many directors of human services agencies have a vision of autonomy, but very few are able to reach that goal.

Human services agencies, especially in the inner cities, have provided an avenue for people to receive help, given corporations a chance to invest in programming and also allowed those who have a guilt complex to give without ever seeing the real problem. With these different avenues, why is it so hard for human services agencies to become self-sufficient?

First, we must look at the business systems that are utilized to operate these agencies. Most agencies like Tiny Tots have adopted the ability to function as a family system. Their intention is to incorporate traditional business practices as they grow. Unfortunately, the director and staff, who are underfunded 95 percent of the time, spend 99.9 percent of their time looking for more funds just to keep the family system functioning. This amounts to time spent to ensure the survival of the agency rather than to develop a business plan for sustainability. As a result, the agency has to journey down the path of trend funding.

Trend funding is the method that funding sources have adopted to address issues that stem from symptoms instead of the root cause. For the sake of keeping the doors open, the human services agency begins to chase dollars as required by trends instead of developing and nurturing the dream. With trend funding, sustainability and autonomy are goals that become unreachable and turn into mere buzzwords.

The agency then begins to live on the personality of the founder/director, thus creating another obstacle to self-sufficiency. The director or founder then has a difficult time developing new leadership to take the agency to the next level. Thus, a vicious cycle continues. Donors look for new initiatives to fund that will address issues within their respective communities.

To start the process of helping human services agencies develop and become sustainable businesses in our community, we must help them make the smooth transition from family systems to basic business practices. The agency must not get bogged down in trend funding. Rather, it must focus on projects that enhance its vision.

Not all money is good money. To change the focus of your vision just to get a grant or funding will dilute the dream and purpose of the agency, thereby defeating the mission of getting to the root cause of the problems we face as a society.

Collaboration between the right business community funding sources and agencies will provide the mechanism by which human services programs will succeed. Without this perfect marriage, we will watch agencies come and go as our community drowns in the process of becoming an urban city.

Ako Abdul-Samad is the founder and director of Creative Visions and a member of the Des Moines School Board.